Beloved, as we get ready to get into the word of God today, won't you bow with me in prayer as we invite God into this preaching moment. God, as always, we thank you for your spoken word, that you stepped in the middle of nothingness and said, let there be and there was. We thank you for your written word, the lamp unto our feet and the light unto our path. I thank you for the incarnate word in Jesus Christ who came to model and share with us what the living word was truly about. For the power to preach your word, we give you thanks. And through the power of the Holy Spirit, you lift me above the frailty of my own flesh. We thank you, Lord, for the doing of your word, as we seek to be more than just hearers, but doers also. And Lord, in anticipation of the fruit of your word, we give you thanks. For your word, we bless your name. In the name of Jesus, we do pray, amen. You know, I think we can all agree that one of the things that dates you, gives away your age, and marks the generation from which you've come, is the genre of music you prefer to listen to. Your musical taste, in a real sense, identifies whether you are old school or not. If you like Motown and Can't Stand Trap, you're probably old school. If you're like me and you like Anita Baker and Roberta Flack, but you don't know a thing about Snow Allegra, then you're probably old school. If you come from my generation, you know that you prefer Tribe Called Quest over the Migos any day of the week, because you're old school. And sad to say, there's a new generation out now who doesn't know a thing about Thriller or Purple Rain. Beloved, if that is the case, then I would suggest to you that I have to identify myself as old school. Because when it comes to the music of the church, I prefer hymns over anything else. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that there's anything wrong or bad or theologically miscentered with contemporary gospel and Christian music. But to me, there's nothing like a hymn. The hymns encourage my faith and ground my hope in ways that contemporary music fails to do. The hymns come to us with this poetic license and this eschatological envisionment of what the future shall be. The hymns convey the goodness and the love and the mercy of God in ways that transcend generations. The power of these hymns, to really understand them, sometimes you've got to go beyond just the first verse that you know and the chorus that you're familiar with and open up that hymnal and find the beauty in those third and fourth verses that we don't always know that well. It's that third verse of the blood will never lose its power that gets me. That third verse says that when this old lispring, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave, then in a nobler and sweeter song, I'll sing thy power to save. I love that third verse of amazing grace that when we've been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun. It doesn't get any better than that third verse of, come thou fount of every blessing. Oh, to grace, how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be. Let thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee. And you all, one of my favorite verses comes from one of my favorite hymns, penned by Horatio Spafford, The hymn is entitled, It Is Well With My Soul. And that third verse says this, hear the words of Horatio Spafford in It Is Well With My Soul. My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin not in part but in whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, Oh my soul. Horatio Spafford understood that one of the things that ought to put some joy in your spirit, one of the thoughts that ought to put a amen in your mouth, and some thanksgiving in your applause, is a realization that all of your sin, past, present, and even future, is nailed to the cross. that in Christ, all of our sins are forgiven. And because of that, our salvation is secure. Because of that, our eternal destiny with God cannot be denied. Because of that, we are attached to the love and the grace of God in a way that no matter what we do today or tomorrow, we can never be separated from the love of God. In a real sense, The minute you said yes to Jesus, the minute you opened your heart to the love of God, the minute you confessed with your mouth and believed in your heart that Jesus was Christ and died and rose again, you were eternally secure in the hands of God. Maybe that's why Jesus said in John 10 that nothing could snatch us out of his hands. Maybe that's why Peter says in 1 Peter that we have an eternal destiny that cannot spoil or fade, that is set up for us in heaven. And Paul put it best when he said there's no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, and that nothing could separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. You all, our destiny to dwell with God in all eternity is secure. And the minute you receive Jesus, you are guaranteed a home in heaven. Now, if you agree with that, if you believe in the assurance of salvation and the eternal security of our glorification with the Lord, it then raises a very curious, consequential question. I want you to pause and think about this for a moment. If heaven is our guaranteed home, if being glorified with the Lord is something that cannot be taken off of our agenda, if we are guaranteed to live eternally with God, here's the question. Why then Did God leave us on earth after we were saved? If we're guaranteed to go to heaven, why does God then leave us in a place filled with sin and pain? Why did God leave us in a place where we experience the existence of evil? Why did God leave us in a place where the righteous suffer? Why did God leave us here knowing that day after day we would continue to sin and to stumble and to disobey? Why did God leave us in a place where we have to watch and witness the world spiral in disease and war and injustice? Why did God leave us here? It's got to be for more than just to sin and to disobey. God gets no glory out of that. It's got to be more than just leaving us here to struggle. That seems contradictory to the character of the love of God. I would suggest to you that we are saved and still alive. We are redeemed and still on this side of heaven. that we are sanctified and yet still living here for one reason. That reason comes to us in two passages of scripture that I want to read as we begin this new series today. I want to invite you to hear the reading of the end of the Gospel of Matthew in Matthew chapter 28, and then we'll journey over to the introduction of the book of Acts in chapter one. Matthew chapter 28, beginning in verse number 16, and then Acts chapter one, beginning in verse number six. Hear the word of the Lord in Matthew chapter 28. Then the 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, all authority is given to me on heaven and on earth, Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I've commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. Then if you will journey over to Acts chapter one, in a parallel passage to what we just read in Matthew, In Acts chapter one, beginning in verse number six, then they gathered around and asked him, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, it is not for you to know the times or dates the father has set by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. You will be my witnesses. Beloved, both of these passages make clear what I believe our assignment is while we live here on earth. According to Acts chapter one, Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit comes for one reason, to give us the power to be witnesses of Christ throughout all the earth. That when Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit, he says that the primary purpose of the Holy Spirit is not to make you run and shout. The primary purpose of the Holy Spirit is not to make you talk in tongues. The primary purpose of the Holy Spirit is not to make you fall out at the altar or have the stamina to endure six-hour worship services. The primary purpose of the Holy Spirit is to empower us to be witnesses of Jesus Christ. If you partner that with Matthew 28, the Great Commission, Jesus gathers his disciples together who have witnessed his resurrected glory, and he says, here's your assignment. I want you to go out and make disciples. If you put those two passages together, I'll suggest to you that our task, our assignment as disciples on earth is to bear witness to the saving power of Jesus Christ and persuade others through that witness to receive Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. Let me say it again, our assignment as we are disciples on this earth is to bear witness to the saving power of Jesus Christ. and to persuade others through that witness to accept and receive Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. One more time, our task, my assignment, your assignment, is to bear witness of the saving power of Jesus Christ and to persuade others through that witness to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. You all, there are several things God expects of us. God expects us to pray daily and show our dependence upon him. God expects us to read our Bibles, to meditate on his word, and to hide it in our heart that we might not sin. God expects us to worship him in spirit and in truth, and to make a joyful noise unto the Lord. God expects us to love others the way God has loved us. God expects us to walk upright and to hunger and thirst after righteousness. And one of the things that God expects of us that too many of us have taken off of our list is that God expects us to bear witness and to make other disciples. Lifeway Christian Resources released a survey they conducted a few years ago where they identified eight biblical attributes of maturing Christians. And the one that was at the bottom of the list for most believers was sharing their faith in Jesus Christ. Hear me, 80% of church-going Christians acknowledge that they have a responsibility to share their faith, but 68% never have. I wanna make sure you catch that data. 80% of church-going Christians identify that they have a responsibility to share their faith, but 68% never have, which means we believe in something that we are not practicing. If that data is correct, it shows that most Christians struggle with sharing their faith. When was the last time you had a conversation with someone where your intentional goal was to persuade them to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior? When was the last time you intentionally sat down to share your faith in Jesus and be a witness of God's glory and God's grace? When was the last time you led someone to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior? If the data is correct, nearly seven out of 10 of us watching have never done that. We've never been a witness and we've never made other disciples. That research by Lifeway convicted me because as they examined the reasons why 68% of church-going Christians have never borne witness and never made a disciple, at the top of the list they said was poor pastoral teaching. that pastors do not teach and preach enough about how to be a witness and how to make disciples. We've got sermons about shouting. We teach on how to give. We focus on how to live an abundant life and name and claim your blessings and walking in the extraordinary favor, but we never teach and preach on evangelism, on how to be a witness, on how to make disciples. And I feel convicted as we come out of Lent and Easter and move into the season of Pentecost, where we focus on the Holy Spirit, whose primary purpose is to empower us to be a witness of Jesus Christ. That in this season, I feel convicted to fulfill my responsibility as a pastor, to help you fulfill your responsibility as a disciple. And for the next few weeks, I want to talk about what it means to make disciples. I want to teach us how we share our faith. And today I want to start with us understanding what it means to be a witness. What does it mean when Jesus says, I want you to be my witness over all the earth? What do we mean by that? Well, I think the first thing we have to ask is this. Why do so many Christians struggle with being a witness? Why is it that 68% of church-going Christians have never identified themselves as being a witness to Jesus Christ? Why are we so reserved and resistant to openly and intentionally talking about Jesus Christ? Why are we not a witness? Well, it probably won't surprise you that the number one reason most church-going Christians don't make disciples and they aren't bearing witness is that they feel unprepared and unqualified. The number one obstacle to being a witness is feeling unprepared and unqualified. Most of us feel that we don't know enough to be a witness. Most of us feel that we can't defend or explain God well enough. Most of us feel that we're not prepared to answer questions that may come when we begin to talk about Jesus and salvation, that we fear someone's gonna ask something that we don't know the answer to. Lifeways said that the number one question most Christians fear is the if, why question. That when we begin to talk about God and Jesus Christ to an unbeliever, they will ask the if, why question. If God dot, dot, dot, why dot, dot, dot. If God is real, Why did that happen to my life? If God is love, why did I suffer like that? If God knows everything, why didn't God stop that? If God cares, why did God let this go down? And if the truth be told, some of us still wrestle with that question periodically in our own lives. And it is difficult to witness to someone who's asking the same question that you can't even answer for yourself. And so many people are afraid of being a witness because they feel unqualified and unprepared to answer the question they know is going to come. So rather than being a witness, and rather than talking about Jesus, and rather than sharing our faith, you know what we do? We invite people to come to church. We believe that if you come to church, maybe the preacher and the sermon will answer your question. If you come to church, maybe the music will witness to you. If you come to church, when the doors of the church are open and there's an invitation, you will say yes to Jesus. And when you come to church, then the deacons will disciple you in your new member orientation. And so rather than us bearing our own witness, we assume that we can just invite people to church and church will do what we've been called to do. Beloved, let me teach this right here. I want someone to understand that inviting someone to church is not being a witness of Jesus Christ. Inviting someone to church is not making a disciple. Inviting someone to church is not fulfilling the expectation God has of you as a disciple to make other disciples. Inviting someone to church does not identify you as a witness to Jesus Christ. And I believe, without fear of contradiction, that God will never ask you how many people you took to church. God is never gonna call you into account of how many folk you invited to come to worship with you. Why? Because church is not where you're supposed to come to find Jesus. Church is where you're supposed to come to grow in Jesus. Let me say that again. Church is not where you're supposed to find Jesus. Church is where you're supposed to grow in Jesus. Come on back to Matthew 16 when Jesus first establishes the church. He says, upon this rock, I built my church. The rock that he's speaking of is not Peter. The rock is the confession Peter made that Jesus is Lord. The church is built on the confession that Jesus is Lord. The term Jesus uses for church is ecclesia, E-C-C-L-E-S-I-A, ecclesia. Ecclesia is connected to the Greek word ekklesia, and ekklesia means to be called out of something. Stay with me. The church is built on those who've made the confession of Jesus. And in that confession, they've now been called out of the world and into the kingdom. So the church is a community of those who've already been called out of the world by their confession of Jesus, because they've already met Jesus. And when they gather in the church, they're already saved. Which means this, you've gotta be careful of inviting an unbeliever to come to church thinking that they're gonna find Jesus in church. You should introduce them to Jesus before they come to church. Because when they come to church, yes, there's a lot of Jesus in church. But there's a whole lot of other stuff as well. There's a whole lot of un-Jesus in church. There can be some ugly in church. There can be some nasty in church. There can be some flesh in church. And if you're expecting someone to meet Jesus in church, More than likely, the devil will make certain they meet everything but Jesus in church and will be turned away. They ought to meet Christ through you and in you and by you, so by the time they come to church, they've already encountered the resurrected Jesus. Being a witness is not being a recruiter for your church or your denomination. What is a witness? I'm glad you asked. That word witness that Jesus uses in Acts chapter one, verse eight, is the Greek word martos, M-A-R-T-Y-S, but it's pronounced martos. Martos is a legal term. And in a legal sense, martos is someone who has seen something and is willing to attest to the factuality of what they know. Watch this again. Martos, witness. Someone who's seen something and is willing to attest to the factuality of what they know. I want to very quickly, for the remainder of this sermon, share with you four realities about martos. I wanna get back into Jewish tradition about witnesses and the legal system so you might understand how Jesus uses that term and what it means for us. What is a witness? Well, understand that in Jewish tradition, a witness, number one, was never called to defend the accused. A witness never had to answer the accusations against the defendant. A witness did not have to defend the accused. All a witness had to do was attest to what they had seen. The role of a witness was never to answer or respond to every accusation. When we are called to be a witness, That does not mean that we have to defend God against every accusation of an unbeliever. We don't have to answer every question. We don't have to explain everything about God. You don't have to know why God did this and why God did that. You don't have to pretend to be an expert in God. To be a witness does not mean that you have to defend God. And that's a word. Because one of the very first things the enemy will do to keep you from being a witness and making more disciples is the enemy will try to convince you that you can't be a witness because you don't know enough about God. That you aren't qualified. You haven't read enough Bible. You don't have enough theological understanding. That you're not fluent in biblical languages. that you can't answer the questions he's gonna ask. You don't know how to respond to the issue she's gonna have. And because you don't know and you can't defend God, you can't be a witness. I came by today to tell you the devil's wrong. You don't have to have a degree in divinity to be a witness. You don't have to be ordained a deacon, a pastor, a bishop. to answer for God. You don't have to be fluent in biblical languages in order to stand up for the Lord. You don't have to memorize scripture to be a witness. You don't have to answer all the questions of why and how and when. All you need to be a witness. is have experienced God touching your life and you being willing to share what the Lord has done for you. You don't need answers, you don't need explanations, you don't need a defense. All you need is to have had an experience where the Lord has touched your life and you be willing to tell others what the Lord has done for you. Come on back to Acts chapter one and watch what goes down. In Acts chapter one, Jesus gathers his disciples and he tells them, I want you to be a witness. But before he gives them that command, they ask him a question. They say, Lord, will you now restore the kingdom to Israel? Is now the time all the prophecies will come together? Is God about to move in a new way? Is the Lord about to do something amazing? Tell us what God's about to do. And Jesus says to them in Acts chapter one, verse seven, it's not for you to know. Watch this, they have a question and Jesus says, I'm not gonna give you the answer. They're confused by some things. And Jesus doesn't sit down and give them Seminary 101. They have some questions and Jesus says, you're gonna have to learn to live with some unanswered questions in verse seven. And then in verse eight, he says, now go and be my witness. Don't you watch this. Don't you miss this. There's some stuff you won't know in verse seven. And I'm still telling you to be a witness in verse eight. You won't understand everything in verse seven, but go out and be a witness in verse number eight. You can't defend God in verse seven, but you can be a witness of God in verse eight. Jesus wants them to understand what I'm pressing on you. You may not be able to answer every question. You don't know everything about God. There's some stuff you can't give an account for, but that should not stand in your way of being a witness. Beloved, write this down, put it in the chat. You're not disqualified by what you don't know. but you are qualified by what you do. Let me say that again. You aren't disqualified by what you don't know, but you are qualified by what you do know. One more time, because I feel good right there. It's not what you don't know, it's what you do know. What you don't know doesn't disqualify you, but what you do know does. There's some things you may not know. You may not know why bad things happen to good people, but you do know that you called on God one day and the Lord moved on your prayer. You may not know why God does what God does and why God allows what God allows, but you do know that you opened your heart to Jesus and your life ain't ever been the same. You may not know why this book didn't make it into the Bible and why the Gospel of Thomas isn't in the New Testament. I don't know that. But I do know that faith has held my life together when I would have gone crazy. I don't know everything about God. I don't know how to reconcile Genesis 1 with Darwin's evolutionary theory. But I do know that God has moved in my life. God has made ways out of no ways. God has opened doors for me. And all it takes to be a witness is to know what God has done. I can't explain everything about God, but this much I know. What the Lord has done for me. And as a witness, you don't have to answer You just have to attest. You don't have to explain God. You just have to testify about God. You don't have to protect God from a question. You just have to share what you know God has answered in your own life. So number one, a witness did not defend. A witness just shared what they knew. Can I give you number two about a witness? According Deuteronomy chapter 19 and about verse 15, it always took two witnesses to verify the truth. Make certain you pay attention to that. It might show up on verses one day. It took two witnesses in Jewish law to establish truth. It was never just one. Truth could never be established by the testimony of one. There always had to be another. There always had to be someone else and something else. That it was not all on one witness. When God calls us to be his witness, what God is also saying is that the weight of someone's belief is not all on you. Hear me. You are not responsible for somebody's salvation. You are just one witness. You are just part of what God is using to bring someone to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. The weight doesn't all rest on your shoulders. The weight isn't all in your hands. You're not totally responsible by yourself. Stop letting the devil make you feel like you failed God if after talking to someone, they don't fall on their knees and confess Jesus right away. God says you are but one witness. You're just a part of what God is doing and who God is using. Wish I had a Bible reader here. Let me take you back to the book of Corinthians, as Paul is writing to that church in Corinth, who doesn't understand how God is moving. And this is what Paul says to them. He says, I planted, and Apollos watered, but then God gave the increase. Notice the triadic structure. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. My assignment was to plant, His assignment was to water. And then God made the fruit grow. I did what I was called to do. He did what he was called to do. And in due season, God put it together and made it bear fruit. Somebody you need to know, your assignment may just be to plant and someone else will be the water. Or maybe you're gonna water what somebody else has already planted a seed in. But at the end of the day, you do what you've been called to do, they'll do what God called them to do, and in the right time, God will pull it all together and make it grow. I'm just here to plant, she's here to water, God will lead to salvation. She laid the word, I fertilized it, but God brought it to fruition. God is responsible for bringing the planting and the watering together. Many of us, if we look back over our own path of salvation, we can testify that it was progressive, not instantaneous. You didn't just wake up and get saved. Your salvation came because people were planting and watering. You had a grandmama who prayed, she planted. You had a mom and dad who took you to church, they watered. You had a Sunday school teacher who taught you John 3.16, she planted. You had a preacher who made the word come alive, he watered. You had someone who witnessed Jesus in their life, they planted. You saw someone else live out the call of God, they watered. And at some moment in your life, God brought it all together. God took the seed and God took the water and God made the fruit of salvation come up in your life because you are the recipient of people planting and watering. As a witness, God says, just do your part. Just bear witness of what you know. Sow the seed, water the seed, and let God bring the salvation. So number one, a witness did not defend. Number two, a witness just did their part. Number three, According to halukah, halukah, which is Jewish law and tradition, watch this, a witness had to be willing to testify. A forced witness was never believed. Someone who was testifying under threat was not to be trusted. The only witnesses that were allowed were those who were willing to testify. In order to be a witness, we have to be willing to testify. Now, can I share with you what's a little ironic and hypocritical? Let me share with you what's a little ironic and hypocritical. That 68% of church-going Christians have never led someone to Jesus. They've never made a disciple. They've never been a witness. But look at how easily, how proud, how openly, and how willingly we witness to other realities in our lives. Look at how quick we are to share other stuff. Look at how quickly someone will tell you about a restaurant they ate at and said the food was good and recommend you try it. There's no fear in sharing with you, I went to see a movie and it was good and you need to go see it. Look at how proud we are of our alma maters. especially if you went to an HBCU. You have never met an HBCU grad who didn't tell you what their alma mater was within five minutes of meeting you. Look at how proud we are of our Black Greek letter organizations. You can be a Delta Sigma Theta in a room filled with salmon pink and apple green, and you still will let all of them know you're a member of Delta Sigma Theta. I have never met an Omega Psi Phi man that doesn't have some gold boots in his trunk ready to put on, even at 65 years of age. Look at how proud we are. Look at how proud you are to be a fan of, what are y'all now, the Redskins, the Washington football team, the Commanders, and they ain't won a game since Jesus went back to heaven. And look at how proud we are of all that other stuff, and yet, 68% of us have never shared openly our faith in Jesus. Why are we so unwilling when we're so willing to share about other stuff? Well, may I suggest to you that part of the reason we are unwilling is because we're afraid, watch this, that when we bear witness And when we start talking about Jesus, our imperfections will cause us to be called hypocrites. Come here. Because when you start talking openly about Jesus and salvation and the grace and the love of God, people will assume you got your stuff together. They will assume you stopped sinning. They'll assume you read your Bible every day, that you don't cuss and fuss, that you live right Sunday to Sunday. And all of us know that ain't me. And rather than my imperfection causing me to be exposed as a hypocrite, I would rather just not say anything because I don't want me talking about Jesus to cause you to lift up an expectation that I can't live to because I know I still stumble. I know I still cuss every now and then. I know I slip on Thursday and sip on Friday. I know I'm not perfect. And so I keep my mouth closed. Come on back to Matthew, let me help you real quick. In Matthew at the end of chapter 28, Jesus has gathered these disciples together and the Bible says that when they get in the room, watch this, some worship and some doubt it. And Jesus said, go make disciples. Don't miss this, in the room are disciples who worship and doubt. And Jesus said, go make some more disciples. You ain't caught it yet. They worship and doubt. They trust and they're afraid. They walk holy and they slip and stumble. They try to get right and sometimes they get it wrong. They love the Lord, but they're nasty to other folk. They are a room full of imperfect people. And God says to these imperfect disciples, now go and make other disciples because Perfection is not a prerequisite to being a witness. You don't have to have it all together. You don't have to be right 24-7. You don't have to be holy even in your sleep. God says, I don't need you to be perfect. I just need you to make some progress. Come here, watch this. Because the world cannot connect to perfection but they can connect to progress. I can't relate to you in your perfection, but I can relate when I see your progress. I can't identify with you in your hypocritical holiness, but I can identify in your transparent, authentic progress. I don't know what to do with you if you always get it right. but you can encourage me when you're trying to get right after you've done wrong. It is your progress that allows you to minister to people. Stop letting the enemy keep your mouth closed simply because you know they know that you're not perfect. What causes them to see Christ at work in you is not my perfection, but rather my progress. And y'all, one of the reasons you ought to be so willing as someone who's made some progress is because you know what Jesus has done for you. What the Lord has worked out in your life. How the Lord has brought you is too good to keep to yourself. The power of grace is too good to keep to yourself. The power of mercy is too good for me not to share it with you. The power of the Holy Spirit to touch and transform is too good for me to keep it to myself. It's so good, I've got to share it with you. Okay, you're not feeling me, let me give you an example and then we'll find our way out of this sermon. A few weekends ago, God laid it on our heart as a church to take over three gas stations. and offer free fill-ups to anyone who came by that day. And so we set it up, we strategized, we got it together. We were out there at three gas stations. I was at one up there in Maryland. And when we got there at eight o'clock and we're ready to open at nine, we're ready to put free gas in people's car. Gas is so expensive, we just thought everybody would want free gas. When we opened up at nine, it started kind of slow. There are only about 20 or 30 cars in line. But y'all, within 15 to 20 minutes, the line stretched a mile down the street, backing up traffic on the beltway. I want to make sure you catch this. It started off slow, but within 20 minutes, there was a line all the way back to the beltway. I was pumping gas in the sister's car, looking at all the cars and wondering how they all got here. The sister pulled up and she was on the phone. She got off the phone and she said, aren't you the pastor? I said, yes. She said, I'm calling everybody I know to let them know that there's free gas right here. Everybody needs some gas. You all are given away free. And because we need it, and because it's free, I'm calling everybody I know to come get what they need that is free. You ain't caught it yet. Because you need it, and it's so precious, and because it's free, I got to call everybody I know and let them know that what you need that is precious is being given away free right here. Beloved, I came by to tell you that gas may be precious and gas may be needed, but not as precious and as necessary as salvation in the name of Jesus Christ. And because it's so precious and because my cousin needs it, because my coworker needs it, because my friends need it, I call them and let them know it's free and it's right here for you. A witness must be willing. A witness knows that they're just doing their assignment. A witness does not feel they have to defend. But let me give you the fourth thing about witnesses in the legal term. Witnesses had to be called by the defense. The defense had to select who they wanted to come and be on the stand. The defense had to be wise. You can't call just everyone up. You got to call up someone who knows what they're talking about. You've got to call up someone who's actually seen something. You've got to call up someone who, when they testify, their testimony will be persuasive. that when I call you as a witness, I need to be certain that you know what you're talking about. I need to know that you've actually seen something. I need to know that you've been through it and you can testify about what you've seen. Beloved, beloved, let me get deep and it's gonna get a little quiet. The word witness I taught you is the word martos, M-A-R-T-Y-S. And if you're astute, you know that martos is connected to the English word martyr. You remember what a martyr is? A martyr is not just someone who may have died for their faith, but someone who struggled for their faith, someone who suffered for their faith, someone who was willing to go through it for their faith. God says, In order for you to be my witness, you've got to martos. You've got to suffer a little bit so that I know that when I call on you, you've got something to share that will persuade him or her that I'm able. I can't call you to the stand if you don't know nothing. I can't use you if you ain't never seen nothing. I can't rely on you if you ain't never been through nothing. I need her to believe that weeping only endures for a night. But in order for her to believe it, I gotta let you weep a little bit. I need someone that can prove I'll be with you as you go through the valley of the shadow of death. And in order for him to believe it, I gotta take you to the valley of the shadow of death. I want someone to know that no weapon formed against them will prosper. But for them to know it, I have to let you deal with some enemies. I want someone to know that at my word, the wind and the waves obey. But for them to know it, I've gotta take you through a storm so you can find out. So that when I put you on the stand, when I bring you into their presence, when it's time to have the conversation, you know that you know, that you know, that you know that I'm the God that makes ways out of no ways. You know I'm a healer because you've been sick. You know I'm a way maker because the door was closed. You know I prepared a table in the presence of your enemies. God says, Are you willing to struggle? Can I use you? Maybe that's why we go through what we go through, so that we can fulfill our assignment to be a witness, because people are persuaded by testimony. People are not persuaded by theory. They're persuaded by eyewitness account. You know how I know that? Because of a social media platform in the world called Yelp. Anybody on Yelp? Yelp is different than Twitter. Yelp is different than Facebook. Yelp is different than Instagram. Yelp exists for one reason, for its members, for you and I, to go out and give reviews and recommendations on businesses we have frequented. Yelp exists for one reason, so that businesses and restaurants can get reviews from people who've actually used them. And those folk who go to Yelp can read the reviews and determine whether they're gonna try that business or not. And 145 million people a month go to Yelp. 145 million people read reviews and make a decision on whether they'll try this business or try that restaurant based on the review. That's what it means to be a witness. that God says, after you've seen what I can do, after you know I answer prayer, when you know I make ways out of no ways, when you know I was the doctor that healed you, when you know that I kept you in your right mind, when you know that I walked you through that valley, when you know that I shielded you from that destruction, when you know what I've done, I want you to be my reviewer. I want you to make a recommendation. because 145 million people trust the review and the recommendation of someone that's been there. So God asks this as we close. Will you write my review? Will you recommend me? Will you be my witness? You don't have to defend God. Just attest to what you know. You're not responsible for someone's salvation. Just do your part. You, my brother, my sister, just have to be willing to be a witness for what the Lord has done in your life. And remember that sometimes the struggle you've gone through is to make you qualified to recommend God to someone else. Can I get a witness? Listen, I pray that the word of God today in our time in worship has been a tremendous blessing to you. So much so that if you don't know who Jesus is, if you've never really opened your heart to the Lord, if you can't say beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are saved, we can change that right now. All you need to go is out to the website. You will see a click, a dropdown, where it says, I want to know Christ. I want to be a believer. I want to give my life to the Lord. Click on that, fill out that form. We'll get right back to you this week, because what we've got to share with you is too good for you to be driving around without it. Maybe you are a believer. You're not a member of a church. Wherever you may be in the world wide web, there's room and space for you to be part of this church family. If you desire to connect with us in relationship, we welcome you. And as always, I encourage you to be faithful in your giving, that we might continue to make glorious the name of Jesus Christ. We prepare ourselves to leave from this place, this virtual space of worship, and we do it in the grace of God. Won't you look to the Lord as we look to say goodbye. And now unto the almighty, the all-wise, the eternal, the sovereign, the omnipotent God, who alone is creator of heaven and earth. To the God who has made himself perfectly known to us in Jesus, who alone is our Christ, our loving Lord, our sacrificial Savior, our resurrected, risen, reigning, returning Redeemer. To the God who chooses to dwell in these earthen vessels of clay, through the sustaining power, promise, presence, purpose, and person of the Holy Spirit. To that all-wise God be both glory and majesty, dominion and power, from now until eternity. And all those who love the Lord, and awaited His return, and determined to be a witness, said, Amen. I'll catch you all next week, by the grace of God.